Viand
by hummerhouse
Summary: Something has wandered too close to the lair and the brothers investigate. It doesn't take long for them to wish they'd stayed home. Rated for language and violence.
1. Prologue

Viand  
Prologue

"Shit! Shit! Where did it go?" Raph yelled; his lips curled back from his teeth, mouth open as he sucked air into overworked lungs.

Don glanced at his brother and then turned to look into the darkness of the underground tunnel, heart thumping in his chest as he fought to catch his breath. "Down there I think. I saw movement."

"Donny, where's your bag?" Leo called as he stepped carefully over rocks and soil, his katanas out.

"I lost it when the ground gave way and dropped us here," Don said. "I think it's under a pile of dirt."

"We're lucky we aren't under a pile of dirt," Mikey said. "I've never seen anything move so fast, not even those things that Bishop mutated."

"Anybody get a good look at it?" Leo asked.

"No." Raph was on the opposite side of the wide tunnel, his sais gripped tightly in hands that stretched out to either side of him. He was poised, edgy; body coiled and ready to spring at the first sign of the thing they'd been chasing. "It's big though," he added.

Leo, Raph, and Mikey moved in a spread out line, slowly walking towards the darker section of the tunnel, Don just a few paces behind them. The thing that had destroyed Don's sensors and set off his alarm system had led them on a merry chase, but they still weren't sure what they were dealing with, so they stayed cautious.

Something felt wrong about the tunnel they were in and Don stopped for a moment, reaching out to touch the wall. The earth looked packed, compressed; as though something had pushed against it hard enough to squeeze the oxygen out. It was almost too warm to comfortably touch and when Don pulled his fingers away, a bit of mucus like slime was adhering to them.

"This tunnel is new," Don said as his eyes drifted up to the ceiling and then to the ground beneath his feet.

Leo stopped moving and signaled for Raph and Mikey to do so as well. "How new?" he asked, his voice low.

"Too new," Don said with a hint of warning in his voice. "Like in the last thirty minutes new."

Raph's eyes met Leo's across the intervening space. Sudden understanding made them widen their eyes simultaneously.

"Out of here," Leo barked the command. "Now!"

Mikey spun on his heel, darting back towards Don. He could hear the other two coming fast on his heels, urgency pushing aside their usual silence.

The brothers managed ten more yards before a deafening roar began to echo in their eardrums, followed by searing pain.

Then total blackness descended on all four.

TBC…


	2. part 1

Viand  
part 1

"Oh shell, my aching head," Mikey said as he sat up. "Did anyone get the number of the bus that hit us?"

"Whatever it was, I owe it a beat down," Raph snarled, rising up on his knees. He waited until his head stopped reeling before attempting to stand.

Leo was on his feet already, leaning against a wall for support. It wasn't very solid, but it was stable enough to hold him until his balance returned.

"Don, are you okay?" Leo asked.

"Yeah, I'm good," Don answered as he waited for his double vision to clear. He was lying in a puddle and when the smell finally registered, he pushed himself into a sitting position quickly. "Yuck," he said, sniffing at his arm.

"What is this stuff?" Mikey asked, gaining his feet. "It smells rank."

"Yeah, kinda like ya' do when ya' forget your deodorant," Raph said with a grin.

Mikey gave Raph a dirty look. "Leo, Raph said I stink," Mikey said in protest. "Do I stink?"

"Raph, stop picking on Mikey," Leo said, only half paying attention.

"We all of us stink right now," Don said as he stood up. "Where did the rancid water come from?"

"Where did the little lights come from?" Mikey asked, looking around them.

The walls and ceiling were dotted with tiny lights. They weren't extremely bright, but they did provide enough light to see by.

"This sure as hell ain't where we were when whatever that thing was sucker punched us," Raph said.

"No we aren't," Leo agreed. He took a few steps and realized the ground had the same springy texture as the walls. "It appears that thing dragged us somewhere, maybe to its home."

"This doesn't look like anyplace in the sewers or underground tunnels that I've ever seen," Don said, reaching out to gingerly touch one of the lights. It was attached to a short cylindrical rod that was embedded in the wall. "Cold light, maybe white phosphorous, but that's very unusual."

"Drool over it later Einstein," Raph said. "Let's figure out where we are and get moving."

A loud buzzing sound suddenly reached them, growing in volume with each passing second. They all turned, weapons jumping into their hands as if they had a life of their own. It was Mikey who spotted the source of the odd sound first.

"Get moving is right!" Mikey yelled. "What the shell is that?"

Crawling all along the walls, floor, and ceiling were blobs of fleshy pink creatures, none over two feet in length, some considerably smaller. They covered every visible bit of the surface out of sheer numbers, some of the faster ones even flowing over their brethren.

One of the creatures leaped straight at Leo who cleanly sliced it in half in mid-air. The two pieces fell to the ground; then quivered for a second just before the wounds closed over themselves. The blob was moving again almost as soon as the injury healed; only now there were two of them.

"Run!" Leo ordered.

No one argued the point. Moving as fast as they could, the brothers put distance between themselves and the slower moving blobs. The springy floor beneath their feet hampered their movements until they adjusted their balance to accommodate it.

In a few minutes the tunnel they were in changed appearance, the walls a deeper shade of gray with nodules of pink and green dotted along the surface. When Mikey stepped on one, it burst open and a viscous yellow substance oozed out of it.

"Oh gross!" Mikey yelped in disgust, stopping to wipe his foot on the ground to get rid of the ooze that had gotten on him.

"Mikey!" Don shouted, urging his brother to keep running.

"No, no, wait," Leo called as he also stopped.

When the others turned to look at him he held up a hand to ask for silence. A minute passed and they realized the buzzing sound was gone.

"Did we lose 'em?" Raph asked.

"How could we?" Don asked; the question rhetorical. "We didn't make any turns; we've been running straight forward because there isn't anywhere else to go. They quit chasing us."

"Okay, so here's the big money question," Mikey said. "Why?"

Don glanced around them, his gaze falling on the nodule that Mikey had broken.

"Maybe they don't want to touch those things," Don said, pointing at the nodule.

"_I_ don't wanna touch those things," Mikey said. "That stuff is sticky and stinky and way yucky and . . . ."

"We get the idea shell for brains," Raph growled. "What the fuck were those things that were chasing us?"

Don shook his head. "I have no idea," he said. "We didn't go all that deeply underground when we were following that beast. It must have transported us to a subterranean level while we were unconscious; someplace similar to where we encountered Sydney."

"And why would it do that?" Mikey asked suspiciously. "Maybe, possibly, so that we could be, oh I don't know, _food_ for its babies?"

"Could be," Don answered, seemingly more fascinated by the prospect than frightened of it.

"I really hate when he does that," Mikey groaned.

"We need to find a way out of here and back to the surface," Leo said matter-of-factly. "Remember when we were underground the first time? Quarry told us 'we've learned to either live off the land or it lives off us'. I think everything down here operates on that premise and that they're probably territorial."

"This just keeps getting better and better," Raph said grumpily. "How do we get out of here when we don't even know where here is?"

"Logically, if we were taken further underground, then we need to start climbing back up. Since we can't go back that way," Leo said, pointing behind them, "then we need to go forward. There has to be an opening somewhere to a higher level; when we find it we climb."

"I vote for that," Mikey said quickly. "Hey, Donny, you gonna join us or keep mooning over the nasty puss?"

"Huh, what?" Don blinked a few times as though coming out of a trance. "Yeah, sure, sounds like a plan."

Leo's brow furrowed as he looked at his genius brother. Don's mind seemed far away and that wasn't a good thing considering they all needed to stay sharp.

"Don?" Leo asked.

"I'm with you," Don said. "Something's bugging me but I'll figure it out."

"Just so long as you stay focused on the danger, Donny," Leo reminded him. When Don nodded, Leo said, "Let's not use our flashlights unless we really need them; the batteries won't last long. Maybe if we start moving into an area that isn't lit up by these glow sticks, we can cut a few of them off the walls and carry them with us."

The ground suddenly shook under their feet and Raph stepped sideways to keep from falling. His foot hit the edge of a nodule and it popped, spilling the yellow ooze onto the ground.

Jumping away quickly, Raph avoided stepping in the stuff and then the ground stopped shaking.

"That's probably why those blobs wouldn't come in here," Don said. "These things pop rather easily and I'll bet that stuff is sticky enough to trap them."

"Can we please leave this giant zit forest?" Raph asked. "If I had anything in my stomach right now I'd probably hurl."

"There's another good reason to get home fast," Mikey said with a grin. "Raph's hungry and you know how grumpy he gets when he doesn't eat."

"Shut up, Mikey," Raph said, mostly from habit rather than anger.

"Let's go," Leo said, taking the lead as they moved out.

They couldn't walk as fast as they would have liked to; the ground was covered in nodules and none of the brothers wanted to step on one. Other than a periodic low rumbling noise, it was deathly quiet.

Before long the nodules began to thin out and then they disappeared altogether. The tunnel they were in started to narrow, until they all had to bend over to walk.

Raph finally decided to voice the concern that he was sure the others shared. "What do we do if we hit a dead end?"

"We turn around and go back," Leo said grimly. "We try to find a way out in the other direction."

"Back ta where those blobs were?" Raph asked incredulously.

"They weren't there when we first woke up," Leo said. "Maybe they were asleep or they all gather in another spot. Maybe it was our voices that drew them to us. It stands to reason that if going in this direction took us out of their territory, then going far enough on the other side will take us away from them too."

"Yeah, and maybe we'll run into something a lot worse," Raph said darkly. "Maybe if I pinch myself I'll wake up from this bad dream. That's a shitload of maybes without answers."

"Dudes," Mikey said, interrupting them.

He had gotten in front of his brothers and was the first to step out of the narrowing tunnel into a more cavernous space. The area was still lit by the tiny lights, but the walls and ceiling were also broken by numerous brown tubers.

"Plant roots mean we're close to the surface, don't they?" Mikey asked. "It sure didn't seem like we were going up."

His brothers stopped next to him and looked around. The ground was fairly smooth with only a few pock marks and although the rest of the cavern glistened slightly, there was no hint of moisture underfoot.

"If those are tree roots, which I'd have to assume they are given the size, then I don't think this room would be quite so dry," Don said warily.

"Well it must be safe bro', otherwise those rats would be making a run for it," Mikey said.

Ahead of them the brothers saw a small group of rodents spread out and scavenging in the area.

Raph laughed. "Never thought I'd believe that seeing rats would be a good sign," he said.

Leo didn't say anything, he just started walking. Behind him, the other three could see that something was making the eldest twitchy, but they couldn't imagine what it was. Knowing how sharp Leo's senses were, they remained quiet.

They were nearly halfway across the cavern when one of the rats squealed. Coming to a fast stop, Leo spun on his heel, his hand sweeping up to grasp a katana.

The little creature seemed to be tangled in some roots and Leo released a sigh of relief. Just before he let go of his weapon though, the roots curled inwards, dragging the helpless rat along with them.

"Guys," Leo said, backing to the center of the cavern.

His brothers joined him, their weapons out as Leo unsheathed his swords. In another second the air was filled with the shrieks of the rats as tendrils shot out of the walls and snatched the rodents from the ground.

"Holy crap!" Raph yelled as a tendril darted down from the ceiling and wrapped itself around his arm.

Pulling against it, Raph discovered the thing had a rubbery texture and was much stronger than it looked. Jabbing at it with his sai was ineffective, he succeeded in puncturing it but that didn't make it relinquish its grip.

Leo swung around and sliced the tendril in two. The part that was attached to the ceiling snapped away from them and the other half dropped off Raph's arm. When it hit the ground it flopped around for a couple of seconds and then lay still.

Mikey ducked just as another tendril made a grab for him and Don rolled to the side to avoid a second one. As he was coming back to his feet, he noticed that the rats that had been caught were slowly dissolving against the walls where they were tightly bound.

"That's not water on the walls, that's acid!" Don yelled.

Twisting, ducking, and diving to stay away from the tendrils that were now a constant barrage, the brothers tried to avoid being caught. Mikey and Don used their weapons like baseball bats, hitting the tendrils that came near them. Fortunately, the tendrils seemed to react to pain and withdrew back into the walls and ceiling once hit.

That wasn't much of a consolation though, since there were thousands of tendrils starting to unfurl around them. Even if they could move fast enough to dodge them all, they certainly weren't going to have the energy to keep doing that for long.

"Time for an exit oh fearless one," Raph called out as he stuck his sai through a tendril and pinned it to the ground.

"Keep moving forward!" Leo shouted. "There's another opening on the other end!"

"Go, go, go!" Mikey yelled, shoving Don towards what he hoped was a safe exit.

Raph ducked behind the tendril that he'd trapped as another swung out from the wall towards him. Reaching down, he snatched up his sai and watched as the injured tendril sprang upward and slammed into the oncoming one.

Something whizzed past his head and he ducked as Leo swung his katana to slice an attacking tendril. The floor around the oldest brother was littered with chopped up tendrils, many of them still twitching.

"Follow Mikey and Don!" Leo ordered.

Raph started running in a zigzag pattern, suddenly feeling like a football player headed for the end zone. He felt a tendril slide off his carapace and nearly tripped when another made a grab for his ankle.

Risking a backwards glance, he saw that Leo was right behind him, moving with the speed that made him the fastest of the four. The Turtle leader was still swinging his swords, cutting his way through a forest of tendrils.

"Hurry, guys!" Mikey yelled from the cavern opening.

Raph saw Don, who was just in front of him, reach down and scoop up a piece of tendril. Then the purple banded genius dove past Mikey, who backed up to make room for Raph.

Leo reached them a second later. "Keep going," he urged, his back to them as he kept his eyes directed towards the cavern.

They were in another narrow tunnel, this one sporting fewer lights and with a much spongier feel to it. After a few feet the ground started to shake as it had done before, the tremor quite a bit stronger. All of them were thrown off balance, bouncing off of the walls though they kept moving.

"Damn it!" Raph cursed. "This looks just like the last tunnel; we could be going in circles for all we know. How the fuck do we get out of here?"

The ground stopped shaking just as suddenly as it started. "Maybe we should mark the walls with something; you know, leave a trail? Like in 'Hansel and Gretel'," Mikey said.

"What the shell good would that do us?" Raph snapped.

Leo interrupted him to ask, "Don, does any of this look familiar from the last few times we were in the underground? Can you tell where we might be?"

"Oh yeah Fearless, I'm sure we _all_ walked past a bunch of murderous tentacles the last time we were down here and Don's the only one who can remember it," Raph said sarcastically.

Don was staring at the tendril he'd picked up, turning it over and over in his hands. His brothers were looking at him expectantly and even Raph bit off further caustic remarks when he saw the look on Don's face.

"Hey, Donny," Mikey said softly. "Dude, do you know where we are?"

When Don looked up, his eyes were wide, the whites standing out in the semi-darkness. "I think we're inside that thing we were chasing. I think it swallowed us while we were unconscious," he told them in a horrified voice.

A moment of petrified silence was broken as Mikey asked, "He's kidding right? Right?"

"I don't think he's kidding, Mikey," Leo said, his voice low.

"We got eaten?" Mikey squeaked, his hands clenching together in front of his chest.

"Just be happy it swallowed us without chewing," Don said, his tone calmer now that he'd shared his thoughts.

"I'm _not_ happy, Donatello. I mean, I'm happy it didn't bite, but I'm totally not happy we got turned into tasty morsels," Mikey said.

A low rumble had them all looking around and then the ground moved again. When it stopped, they heard a new sound coming towards them from the direction of the cavern, a gurgling noise that was faintly distasteful.

"Freak out later, bro'," Raph said, grabbing the tails on Mikey's mask and yanking him around. "Those things ain't giving up on trying ta chomp on us."

"Digest us," Don corrected as they all started walking fast.

The noise grew louder and it was directly behind them.

"Explain it later, Brainiac," Raph said as he looked back. "Right now ya' need ta run!"

TBC….


	3. part 2

Viand  
Part 2

"Move!" Leo shouted, looking back over his shoulder. The walls behind them were clamping shut, the spongy tissue pressing so tightly together it looked like children's clay.

His brothers were already running, the gurgling noise warning them that they didn't want to stick around for whatever this show might happen to be.

"I hope there's a way out of here!" Mikey yelled as he ran.

"Keep going," Don urged, right on his heels. "It should open out further up!"

"Leo!" Raph called, trying to locate his older brother.

"Behind you!" Leo answered. "Faster bro', it's on my tail!"

Mikey could see a twinkling of lights ahead of him and dashed towards it. The tunnel suddenly opened out into a larger space and Mikey dove into it, rolling aside as Don crashed to the ground beside him.

Raph was next through the tunnel, leaping over his brothers. As Leo flew out of the opening, the tunnel walls slammed shut behind him.

Falling to the ground with his siblings, Leo gasped for air, his eyes focused upwards. Overhead the tiny lights glimmered, their gentle allure deceptive.

"Gizzard," Don squeezed out as he sucked air into his lungs.

Turning his head, Leo looked over at his genius brother. "What?"

Lifting himself onto his elbows, Don nodded towards the tunnel they'd just escaped.

"The muscular contractions inside a gizzard grind food up," Don said. "That's what nearly happened to us."

"What gizzard?" Mikey asked, sitting up. "Like in a chicken?"

"Like in an earthworm," Don said.

"We got swallowed . . . by a worm?" Raph asked, his voice a half octave higher.

Mikey started snickering and when his brothers glared at him, he said, "Sorry dudes. It's just the irony of Raph getting eaten by a bug."

"Why don't we feed Mikey ta it and while it's gagging on him, we'll make our escape?" Raph suggested.

"That would explain why we weren't chewed up," Leo said, ignoring his two youngest brothers.

"Earthworms behave like vacuum cleaners; their mouths open, food goes in, and then gets suctioned by the pharynx. That's probably why we all blacked out; the pressure during that process probably squeezed the oxygen right out of us. We got dropped into the esophagus which is where we woke up," Don said.

"You do know that earthworms don't usually get to be the size of luxury liners, right Donny?" Mikey asked.

"I also know that Shredder did an awful lot of experimentation down here," Don answered. "The facility where we found Quarry wasn't the only one. I mean, who knows how many of those secret labs he built beneath the city. He was sure the Utroms were down here and he was absolutely obsessed with finding them."

"Altering a creature that was a natural tunneler would certainly be a logical way for him to speed up his search. He could just map the tunnels it created and wait for it to run across what he wanted to find," Leo said.

Raph cleared his throat. "So if we're inside of a giant worm, then ya' know how we can get out, right Donny? Ya' know its layout and can just lead us to an exit."

"Eww," Mikey said as he stood up. "If we came in through the mouth and can't go back that direction, it means there's only one other way out of here."

"Oh crap," Raph said as he too pushed himself to his feet.

"That's what I just said," Mikey told him.

"Actually, if this worm isn't mutated too much beyond its original, there is another way out," Don said. "I'm no expert on earthworms; in fact I've only looked at one diagram, but if I remember correctly, some species are parthenogenetic and still others are hermaphrodites. In either case, the worm will most probably have external male pores to release sperm."

"Oh hell no," Raph said quickly. "I ain't going out that way."

"Would you rather crawl through its butt?" Mikey asked.

They were all on their feet by now and Raph looked around, his eyes narrowing. "I ain't going out either of those ways," he said.

Striding over to Leo, Raph grabbed one of his brother's katanas from its sheath and spun towards the nearest wall.

Don's eyes widened as he realized what his hot headed brother meant to do. "Raph, no!"

Whatever further warning Don was going to relay went unheeded as Raph sliced into the worm's body.

A loud roar sounded as the sharp blade bit into the rubbery flesh. The roar was immediately followed by shaking so violent that it knocked all four brothers down.

There was an intense sensation of movement as the ground seemed to be sliding from under them, making it impossible for any of them to gain their feet. The walls, ceiling, and ground undulated all around them, looking for all the world like a giant bowl of gelatin.

Rolling against a wall, Leo reached out and grasped one of the little embedded lights, pulling himself close enough to get a good handhold on a second one. The fibrous rod connecting the light to the wall was tough enough to hold his weight and he took a chance that it would hold two.

"Don! Grab my leg!" Leo yelled, stretching his leg out to the brother closest to him.

Donatello's hand shot out and caught a firm hold around Leo's ankle. Whipping his bo staff free, Don extended it towards Mikey who grabbed onto the end.

Raph had dropped the katana when the worm started moving and he was scrabbling at the ground, trying to get some kind of leverage. His first instinct was to bury his sais in the beast, but he knew its reaction probably wouldn't be any better to being stabbed than it had to being sliced.

Mikey yanked one of his nunchucks from his belt and watched as his brother rolled first one way, then the other. As Raph started to plummet back in his direction, Mikey spun his weapon and yelled, "Catch!"

Retaining his grip on one end, Mikey flipped the other to Raph, who deftly caught it.

The rough ride continued for several long minutes and then the slashed section of the wall began to close. As it sealed shut, the roaring sound diminished and the movements slowed. By the time the injury was completely healed, the wild shaking had stopped.

Panting, the four brothers stayed where they were. Then with a loud groan, Mikey released his hold on Don's bo and sat up.

"Don't do that again," Mikey admonished Raph in a stern voice.

"Shell," Raph groaned, letting go of the nunchuck and pushing himself onto his knees. "Don't worry, I won't."

Leo stumbled to his feet and recovered his katana, then offered Don a hand up.

"It doesn't look like we're going to be cutting our way out," Leo said grimly.

"That's what I was trying to tell you guys," Don said. "Earthworms have regenerative abilities; in some species they can even regrow entire segments of their body. If Shredder was experimenting, you know his scientists would have spliced together the DNA of the species with the most useful characteristics. The way they move is through muscular contractions, so if we hurt this guy, he's going to react by shortening and lengthening his entire body to try and escape the pain. Depending on which part of his body we're in when that happens, we could easily be crushed."

"You know, this looks like a nice spot to sit down and let Donny figure out how to get us out of here," Mikey said. "No blobs, no zits, no tentacle thingies, and no collapsing walls. I vote we use our brains instead of running around in the unknown."

"I second that," Don said quickly. "I'd like a few minutes to try and recall everything I can about the diagram I saw. Maybe I can remember a quick way out of here."

"Yeah, preferably before it starts trying ta digest us again," Raph said.

"All right," Leo agreed. "Let's approach this in a more methodical fashion. Don, you sit down and try to remember everything you can. I'm going to see if we can get a cell signal. If I can get a call out to April, maybe she can trace it back to us. With any luck, she'll pinpoint our location and send Master Splinter and Casey down to help get us free."

As he was speaking, Leo dug his shell cell out of his belt. However, several attempts from a number of different spots yielded no hope; there was no signal.

Meanwhile, the lack of movement made Mikey realize that the inside of a worm was a pretty chilly place. Looking around, he saw small rocks, gravel, sticks, and other debris generally found when digging in the dirt.

"Hey, Donny," Mikey said, nudging his brother. "Do you think I could build a small fire without upsetting this thing?"

Don glanced at the objects that Mikey was pointing out and said, "Yeah, I think so. Just stack the rocks up high enough so the fire doesn't touch the worm's skin."

"Can do," Mikey said, bouncing to his feet.

Don walked over to the now closed tunnel and carefully ran his hands along what had once been an opening. Behind him, Raph was examining the section of wall he'd tried to slice through, noting that there was nothing to indicate that the wound had ever existed.

Leo was pacing off the area they were in as Mikey started stacking rocks. The youngest brother kept his eyes on his siblings while building his mini tower of stone, topping it off with anything flammable that he could get his hands on.

"Don, this space we're in goes on for quite a ways," Leo said from several feet away. "Could it be this thing's stomach?"

Mikey stuck a match to the twigs on his fire tower and then stood next to it as the flames caught. He had stacked the rocks nearly as high as his beltline, but to be on the safe side he bent down and touched the ground near the base. It was quite cool and with a contented sigh, Mikey stood back up and rubbed his hands together over the warmth.

Don walked over to join Leo. The area they were in did seem to go on for quite a distance and the little lights grew more sparse another twenty feet beyond where they were standing.

"Can't be a stomach," Don said. "Earthworms don't have one, per se, but they do have intestines. Since we've apparently passed through the gizzard, the intestines are usually the next step in the pipeline."

Raph joined them. "I guess ya' said 'usually' 'cause ya' don't know how screwed up this things insides are, considering it's probably Shredder's handiwork."

"Wish I had some hot dogs right about now," Mikey called out. "Being trapped inside a totally gross giant worm really brings out the old appetite. I could grill the dogs over an open flame and . . . ."

Mikey's words tapered off as something dripped from the ceiling and hit his fire, which hissed and flared. Glancing up, Mikey saw other droplets forming and stepped back quickly, dodging just as they began to fall.

Smoke rolled out of the flames that were swiftly being extinguished.

"My fire!" Mike whined in protest. Then one of the drops hit his arm. "Ouch, ouch!" Mikey yelled as several more droplets touched his skin.

He tried dancing back but the rain had started falling harder. Screaming in pain, Mikey ducked his head to keep his face from being burned.

"Mikey!" Raph shouted and dashed towards his brother when he saw that Mikey could no longer see where he was going.

Grabbing Mikey's arm, Raph yanked him towards where the others were standing, just outside of the rain curtain. Several droplets fell on Raph's shoulders and arms as he dragged Mikey along.

"This shit burns!" Raph cried out.

"Go, run!" Leo yelled, seeing the burning rain curtain expand in their direction.

Don grabbed a flashlight from his belt and ran towards the darker part of the interior, flicking it on to search for dangers. As Raph and Mikey neared Leo, the oldest slid in behind Mikey, placing a hand on his carapace to push him along.

The steady beam of Don's flashlight guided them to where he waited. "You can stop," Don called as they neared him. "It isn't coming any further."

Behind them they could see the 'rain' beginning to taper off in the area they had just occupied. Raph helped Mikey sit down and then squatted in front of him.

"Ya' okay, bro'?" Raph asked.

Mikey nodded. "Oh man, this really stings," he complained, staring morosely at the patches of reddened skin along his arms. A couple of spots were burned and Don kneeled next to Mikey, gently taking one of his brother's arms into his hands so he could inspect the injuries.

"That's because it's bile," Don said. "Or something of a similar acidic composition. A defensive response to an irritant. I'm sorry Mikey, this is my fault. As soon as I realized we were in the intestines, I should have stopped you from lighting that fire. Usually things are crushed in the gizzard and absorbed through the intestinal walls, but sometimes larger objects get through. When the nerve endings recognize that something big is inside, they release acid to finish breaking the thing down."

"Large objects like us," Raph said darkly.

"Are you saying that whenever this thing senses our presence, it's going to do something to kill us?" Leo asked.

"To digest us," Don explained for a second time. "We're food."

"This shit is gettin' really old, really fast," Raph said. "We can't rest for five minutes without something trying ta shred us, we can't warm up with a fire or try ta cut our way out, we can't push through anything that looks like water 'cause it's probably stomach acid, and this damn thing didn't bother ta swallow Wonder Boy's magic duffel bag when it gulped us down."

"We do need to figure a way out soon," Leo said. "Without food or water, we won't last very long. While we have a few minutes, let's pool everything we remember about where we were and what we observed about this creature before it swallowed us."

While Raph and Leo were talking, Don took his pocket knife from his belt and cut the ends off his mask. He wished he had burn ointment with him, but all of his first aid supplies were in the duffel bag.

Gently wrapping the cloth around Mikey's burns, Don covered and protected the wounds as best he could. He was seriously worried about them becoming infected, but he kept that to himself.

"You can use my mask if you need it," Mikey said.

"No, just the tail ends of mine for now. We need to keep our masks on to protect our eyes, there's no telling what else we may run into," Don told him.

"Okay, ta start with, this thing is damn big," Raph said. "Big enough so that the tunnel it made looked like part of the old underground railway. Big enough so that four of us can run around in here and produce an echo."

"It must not ever go near the surface," Leo contributed. "If it did, there would be sinkholes all over the city."

"Earthworms have to stay moist," Don said. "It won't go close to anything that feels warm because that would dry its skin; hence it's not going anywhere near where the ground has been heated by the sun. The buildings and roads also produce heat, which it's going to avoid."

"This city is covered in buildings, some of them have sub, sub-basements," Mikey said. "How deep could this thing be?"

The brothers looked at one another. "We came down past the sewers, below the underground railway, and at least two more levels that we thought were man made," Don said slowly.

"Then the ground dropped out from under us," Raph supplied.

"So we were already about fifty feet underground before the thing swallowed us," Leo said.

"Even if you'd cut your way out, Raph, we'd have found ourselves up against a solid wall of earth and rock," Don said.

All four were silent for a moment as the enormity of their predicament took hold. Then Raph let out a long, gusting breath and put words to what they were all feeling.

"We're in one sweet shitload of trouble," Raph said.

TBC…..


	4. part 3

Viand  
part 3

As the four brothers contemplated each other and their current plight, Don said quietly, "I'm going to have to second Raph's sentiments."

"We're not dead yet, bro'," Mikey said, his voice upbeat. "If we gotta go out as worm poo, we go out as worm poo."

"That isn't going to work, Mikey," Don said softly. "There's only a very small chance that we could work our way out of that end at a time when the worm didn't have anything else to leave behind. Earthworms aerate the soil by ingesting it as they tunnel, but the soil they take in passes through their systems; all of the way through."

Leo's eyes widened as he caught on to what Don was saying. "It refills the tunnels it digs."

"Exactly," Don said. "Even considering how far underground this thing is, if it were leaving behind hundreds of gigantic empty tunnels under the city, something would be bound to collapse. It isn't leaving empty tunnels. If we go out with the castings, we'll basically be buried alive."

Raph sat down with a hard thump and Leo began pacing. Mikey's eyes were wide as he passed them over each of the brothers, momentarily forgetting how much his burns hurt.

"Oh man, I'll never watch Tremors again," Mikey moaned lowly.

"We can't go out the way we came in," Leo said in a determined voice. "We can't go out the only other logical direction. There has to be other exits. How does this thing breathe?"

"Through its skin; that's one of the reasons it has to stay moist," Don answered. "No lungs, no breathing passages. It doesn't have ears either. The only conceivable way out is through its reproductive system. Sorry Raph," he added as an afterthought.

Raph scowled at him but didn't say anything.

"Where is that located and how far do we need to travel to get there?" Leo asked.

"The ovaries are between half and three quarters of the way along its length," Don said, eyes narrowed in thought. "If we continue along this path inside the intestines, we'll come across them."

"I thought ya' said we could go out through its pores," Raph said.

"We probably could," Don said. "If we stimulated them enough, the worm would open up to release us like it does with sperm. We'd still have the problem of coming out against a solid barrier of earth."

"So what, you want it to lay us like an egg?" Mikey asked.

"If it thinks that it has produced eggs, it will create an enclosure that's something like a slime tube filled with fluid. Once that's formed, the earthworm will move forward out of the tube. As it moves, the tube passes over the female pore and picks up the eggs. In theory anyway," Don said.

"You're saying that the earthworm moves on and leaves the tube behind?" Leo asked.

"Exactly. The tunnel around the tube won't be filled with castings and we can then cut our way out of the tube," Don explained.

"Supposedly that gets us out of the worm," Raph said, "but still leaves us with the problem of digging our way out of miles of dirt. We ain't got any way of knowing where the damn thing is gonna drop us off either."

"If we stay in here, we're gonna have to keep running to avoid getting digested by something," Mikey said.

"We'll buy ourselves a little more time by being outside of this thing," Leo said. "There will probably be enough moisture seeping through the dirt to keep us hydrated, which is better than we can get in here."

"So does that mean we're gonna go with Don's idea and pretend ta be eggs?" Raph asked.

"We were hatched from eggs once before," Don said with a grin, "this won't be anything new."

"Ya' know something, Donatello? We're gonna have a conversation about your sense of humor once we get out of here," Raph told him.

"Looking forward to it," Don said as he stood up.

Reaching down, Don helped Mikey to his feet as Raph got up. Instinctively, all three turned to Leo.

"You good, Mikey?" Leo asked.

"Awesome dude," Mikey said, lifting a thumb.

"Then let's get out of here," Leo said, leading the way further into the intestines.

After a few minutes of walking in silence, Mikey asked, "Is it getting darker in here?"

"There aren't as many light sticks," Don said. "I imagine at some point towards the tail end there may not be any at all. We might have to break out our flashlights."

"On the bright side, Raph won't have to look at the egg sac we're gonna have to crawl into," Mikey said.

"Trust me goofball, you're going in before I do," Raph growled.

Mikey swallowed his next jibe when he saw Leo halt and lift his hand. Immediately, his brothers all stopped and became instantly vigilant.

Several yards ahead of them, something moved along the walls. No one even breathed as they stared into the darkened gloom.

Once more there was movement in the shadows and then something slipped into the dim glow provided by a grouping of light sticks.

"Isn't that one of those blobs we ran into when we first woke up?" Raph asked, his voice low.

"Yes," Leo whispered. "I think they respond to vibration. Don't make any noise; we need to see how many of them are over there."

More motion from the darkness drew their gaze and they saw several more blobs move into the light. They were crawling slowly along the inner walls, sucking up detritus stuck there from something that had moved through the intestines.

"There doesn't seem to be very many of them," Don whispered. "They might have gotten trapped in here by accident."

"Maybe we can get past them without drawing their attention," Leo said quietly. "If we move slow and don't make a sound, they probably won't notice us."

He started forward, moving as silently as the mist from a cloud. Before he made it four steps though, Don's hand shot out to grasp Leo's arm, pulling him to a stop.

Leo turned his head to look at his brother, his brow furrowed.

"Don't move," Don whispered. "Something else is there."

Suddenly a form flew across the room and landed with a dull smack on top of one of the blobs. The blob writhed beneath the attacker, shrilling out a loud buzzing sound as it fought.

The light sticks showed them a cylindrical shaped object, brown in color, with multiple long spindly protrusions sticking out of its primary mass. The protrusions were jointed in two spots along their length, looking almost like legs.

As those legs tightened around their captive, the blob reared back from the wall, giving the Turtles an excellent view through its partially transparent body of the underside of its attacker. While they watched, an opening appeared in the attacker's belly, running almost the entire length of its body.

The dark red interior was lined with suckers, much like those on a squid. Though it was difficult to see, the suckers appeared to be moving.

When the opening clamped down on the squirming blob, the captured creature let out a final high buzz and fell to the floor. Within seconds, the spider like thing had completely devoured its captive.

Suddenly, the air in front of the Turtles was filled with flying spiders. With unerring accuracy they landed on the remaining blobs and quickly made short work of them.

Stunned, the brothers watched the noxious feast with both distaste and dread. Then Don noticed that there was still one blob left, apparently unnoticed by the attackers.

"Leo," Don whispered. When his brother glanced at him, Don indicated the remaining blob with a nod of his head.

The creature was in a section of the space that was nearly devoid of light. In the dark, the blob hadn't moved since the attack began, almost as if it sensed the impending danger.

Other than a faint slurping sound, the space quieted. One by one, the spidery objects flew upwards and out of sight.

Complete silence fell. The Turtles didn't move, all of their eyes glued to the remaining blob. After about five minutes, the blob began to slide along the wall, coming slowly into the light as it did so.

With incredible speed, a spider thing flew through the air and pounced on the remaining blob. To the four watchers, the high buzzing sound of the victim almost sounded like screams of anguish. Its terror was short lived as the spider quickly consumed it.

Soundlessly, Mikey slipped away from the bundle of light sticks that he'd been standing near. In deep shadow, the four brothers moved closer together, leaning into a huddle so they wouldn't need to raise their voices.

"Bugs inside of bugs," Raph said in a harsh whisper. "Maybe I'm having a nightmare."

"I wish you were," Don said. "I'd rather pinch you and get hit for it than to be trapped in here."

"They hunt by sight," Leo said. "Movement attracts them, but only if they see it. I don't think sound plays a factor, but it's best we don't test that theory."

"Are ya' planning on going in there?" Raph asked incredulously.

"We don't have any choice," Leo hissed.

"Great, we have to move so we can get to the whatsis to escape, but if we move we get eaten," Mikey said. "I think I played a video game just like this once."

Leo unsheathed his katanas and said, "You guys stay right here, I'm going to make a safe path."

Raph grabbed his wrist. "Ya' can't slice your way through those things, there are way too many of them."

"I'm not going to fight my way through," Leo said calmly. "I'm going to extinguish the lights so they can't see us walk past. Don, how sensitive do you think these light sticks are? If I slice a few off the wall, will the worm react the way it did when Raph cut into it?"

Don thought about it for a moment. "I don't think so," he said. "You yanked on a couple of them pretty hard earlier when you were trying to keep us all from being smashed against the walls. It didn't seem to notice that so I'm thinking it'll be just like a haircut; there won't be any sensation at all."

"All right," Leo said, taking a deep breath. "If I'm not attacked I'll keep going until I know we're safely past these things, or I've reached an area that looks like it might be our target. Once I've started, count to twenty and then follow in my footsteps in five second intervals. Donny, you start after me; I'll need you to call me back if I pass what we're looking for."

"Okay," Don said.

"I'll bring up the rear," Raph offered, releasing Leo's arm.

Leo nodded. "Stay quiet and stay invisible," he reminded them.

Without waiting any longer, Leo ducked into the darkness, disappearing completely from sight. The remaining three brothers strained their eyes in an attempt to see him, but the first indicator of his location was a faint swishing sound.

Immediately following the sound, an area previously brightened by light sticks went black. Holding their breath, the Turtles waited for a response from the worm, but it appeared Don's assessment was correct because nothing happened.

Another section of lights were extinguished without rousing the spider things. Leo moved with the skill gained from years of practice, completely silent and imperceptible. Counting to twenty slowly, Don started after him, remaining on the dark path that Leo had forged.

When it was time for him to move, Mikey whispered, "Here's goes nothing."

"Bonehead," Raph muttered.

Raph slipped his sais from his belt and after five seconds, followed Mikey into the dark. He couldn't hear his little brother in front of him and had to grin; it was amazing how silent Mikey could be when properly motivated.

Keeping his mind focused on his brothers helped Raph to not think about the things they were trying to avoid. He didn't like bugs and cared even less for anything that even looked like a spider.

Don moved behind his older brother, trying to emulate the pace Leo was setting so that he wouldn't step on Leo's heels. He gauged his speed based on how quickly the twinkling light sticks blinked out in front of him.

So concentrated on watching the lights being extinguished, Don almost didn't notice something looming up in front of him. It was the change in air current that made him pull up short and freeze.

One of the spider things had flown down from above and come to rest on the wall right between Leo and Don. It was likely that the new dark spot on the wall was what had lured the spider because it didn't react to Don's presence.

That didn't help with the predicament Don found himself in. At this close range, if he moved the thing was bound to see him. Even if he remained frozen in place, in a couple of seconds, Mikey was going to be right up against him.

Jabbing it with his bo staff would just call its attention to him that much faster. With a grimace, Don slowly reached for his small backup knife as he tried to determine exactly where he should cut the thing.

Don's hand was only partway to his belt when something else moved in front of him. The object was much larger than the spider and moved a whole lot faster.

The sound of fine steel sliced through the air and through the spider, cutting it neatly and almost silently in half.

As it fell to the ground, Leo pressed in close to Don and whispered, "There's a spot that narrows into a tunnel up ahead. Keep going until you're inside. I swept it with my flashlight and it's empty. I'm going to watch for the others."

"Okay." Don circled around Leo, stepping over the dead spider as he moved.

Staying on the dark path, Don found the tunnel by nearly running into the wall on one side of it. Reaching forward, Don felt around for the opening and then went inside, stopping when he was a few feet in.

It wasn't long before Mikey joined him and then Raph and Leo appeared. Taking a chance, Don fished out his flashlight and shone it ahead of them. The tunnel was short and empty.

"Keep going," Leo said. "I don't want to be in here if this is another collapsing tunnel."

Don led the way but when he reached the end of the tunnel he stopped.

"Quit holding up the works, Donny," Raph grumped. "Let's move."

"We can't," Don told him. "Leo, we have a bit of a problem."

Working his way past Raph and Mikey, Leo inched up next to Don and looked into the chamber ahead of them. The floor sloped down from the tunnel's exit and was filled with a grayish colored liquid.

The pool extended from wall to wall in a chamber that was at least thirty yards long. On the opposite side was another opening that was higher than the liquid, but it was unreachable.

Don didn't realize that Raph was leaning over his shoulder until he heard his brother grumble, "Let me guess. Acid?"

"Probably," Don said.

Reaching into his belt, Don extracted one of his smoke pellets and dropped it into the liquid. It didn't even have a chance to sink before it completely dissolved.

"Turtle luck," Raph said calmly, as though he'd just proved a point.

Looking around, Don searched the ceiling and walls of the chamber and noticed immediately that there were two ventricles high up on opposite walls. They appeared to lead into a different portion of the worm's body, and Don could guess where they went.

"Do you see those openings?" Don asked, pointing towards one of them. "I think those will take us into the ovaries."

Mikey wedged his head in between his brothers so he could see what they were all looking at. "Great," he said. "How do we get up there?"

"Could we use the light sticks and climb?" Leo asked.

"There's too much distance between some of 'em," Raph pointed out. "We could leap from one ta the next, but I don't know that I want ta depend that much on their strength. Falling means a lot more than a couple broken bones."

While they were talking, Don dug out his Shuko spikes and slipped them onto his hands.

"Hold on guys, I'm going to try something," Don said, stepping away from the opening and pushing his brothers back as well.

Bracing his feet on the ground, Don sank the spikes from one of his hand claws into the wall. When nothing happened, he dug in with the spikes on the other hand.

There was still no reaction and Don yanked them loose, turning to his brothers. "We can climb up using these. They aren't long enough to touch any nerves in the worm's skin, but they're plenty long enough for us to get a good solid grip."

"I hope you're right, Donny," Raph said as he pulled on his own set of spikes. "I'm not gonna be too happy with ya' if I end up taking an acid bath."

"Hang onto my belt while I make sure this outer wall is safe," Don said once they were all ready.

Raph got a solid grip on Don's belt as his brother leaned out of the tunnel and slammed his spikes into the wall. There was no response from the worm so Don pulled away from Raph and began to slowly climb, digging his toes into the spongy skin to help anchor his body.

One by one the other Turtles began to climb, concentrating on their grip and trying not to think about what was directly beneath them.

Reaching the outer lip of the ventricle, Don pulled himself inside, finding it easier to remain on his knees rather than trying to stand in a space that was only four feet high. Turning around, he watched as Raph neared the entrance.

A low rumble caught them off guard. Don looked over and met Leo's eyes, his own wide and frightened.

"Keep going guys, faster!" Leo urged.

"You're almost here," Don called to Raph, yanking his spikes off. "Reach out and I'll grab you!"

Raph lifted a hand and lunged towards Don. Just before their hands connected there was a loud roar and the worm jerked into motion.

With a yell, Raph swung away from Don, his remaining claw hand wrenching loose from the wall. Don threw himself onto his stomach and made a grab at his brother, but wasn't fast enough as Raph lost his purchase on the wall and began to fall towards the pool of acid.

TBC….


	5. part 4

Viand  
part 4

"Raph! No!" Don shouted as he watched his brother plummet towards the acid pool.

Mikey didn't take time to think about what to do; as soon as he saw Raph lose his grip on the wall, the youngest pulled his hands out of his spikes and flipped backwards.

"Leo!" Mikey yelled as he surged after Raph.

Farthest down on the wall, Leo dug his toes into the spongy flesh and freed one of his hands. As Mikey went past him, Leo's arm darted out fast as a snake and he grabbed Mikey's ankle.

Raph saw his brother's desperate move and flung an arm up towards him. Mikey's hand swept down and caught hold of Raph's wrist, yanking him to a bone jarring stop just inches above the acid.

Swinging in Mikey's grip, Raph's carapace tapped the wall and he pushed his heels into it to steady himself. Looking up, Raph was greeted by Mikey's toothy grin.

"I guess you owe me one," Mikey said impishly.

"Damn, Mikey, that was crazy," Raph told him.

"Talk about it later," Leo said through gritted teeth, "I can't hang on forever."

From Don's viewpoint, it was a miracle that Leo was still attached to the wall. His oldest brother was pressed tight against the worm's body, straining to keep his one Shuko spike embedded as he fought not to lose his grip on Mikey's ankle. Fortunately, the worm was slowing down and the shaking was lessening.

Flipping over, Raph jammed the spikes on his free hand into the wall and pressed his toes against it for balance.

"Let go, Mikey, I'm coming up," Raph said.

Mikey released his brother's wrist and waited as Raph climbed towards him. Pressing his shoulder against Mikey's carapace, Raph slowly lifted Mikey, bearing some of his weight and relieving part of Leo's burden.

As Raph's shoulder slid along Mikey's shell, the younger brother bent at the waist, reaching towards the spikes he'd left embedded in the wall. Once he was high enough, he slipped his hands into them and pulled his leg free of Leo's hold.

"Guys," Don called, "I think my climbing into this ventricle is what set the worm off. You're going to have to bunch together somehow and pull yourselves inside as fast as possible before it moves again."

"Peachy," Raph grumbled, continuing to climb.

Raph and Mikey reached the opening almost at the same time and waited for Leo to catch up.

"How are we doing this?" Mikey asked.

"You'll have to crawl over me," Don said. "If I try to move back it may upset the worm again. Get as close as you can so I can grip your arms before you let go of the wall. Once you're on my shell, move as fast as you can out of the way."

"Raph, you go first," Leo ordered. "Get behind Don and brace his legs so our weight doesn't pull him out of there."

"Gotcha," Raph said. "Okay, Donny, here I come."

Don reached over the edge and got a tight hold on Raph's forearm as his brother heaved himself forward and up. As Raph cleared the edge of the ventricle, Don let go of him and a second later felt Raph's weight hit his carapace.

Raph scrambled down to where Don's feet were, threw the spikes off his hands, and grabbed Don's ankles as the first rumble shook the worm. By then, Don already had a solid grip on Mikey, who wasted no time lunging upwards and into the opening, landing with a thump on top of his smart brother.

Catching Leo's arm, Don held on as the worm jerked and began to undulate. The shaking was so violent that Don felt himself slipping forwards despite Raph's hold. Then Mikey grabbed a leg and between him and Raph, they began pulling Don further inside.

As Don moved away from the ventricle's edge, he dragged Leo up and out of danger. Once Leo was a safe distance from the opening, the brothers stopped moving and lay in a heap, breathing heavily.

After several moments of their immobility, the worm once again slowed down and eventually ceased all movement.

"I'm guessing we're in a pretty sensitive area of its body," Leo said finally.

"I don't think we're hurting it," Don said. "More likely it's responding to the stimulation."

Raph groaned and Mikey sat up, a big grin on his face.

"Oh, so we're like, turning it on?" Mikey asked.

"Well . . . yes," Don answered.

"Would ya' two please shut up already?" Raph demanded. "I'm grossed out enough."

"You should be proud, Raphie," Mikey taunted. "Most women scream and run when you come near, this one actually wants to have your babies."

"That's it!" Raph snarled as he rose up on his knees. "I want out of this thing now."

"After you," Don said, pointing behind his brother. "Try to move at a nice even pace so the worm isn't overly excited."

Raph started off, doubled over because of the ventricle's size, his flashlight out to light the way. Mikey moved in behind him, talking as they walked.

"The first kid should be named after you," Mikey said. "Raphie Jr. would be perfect except I don't know how junior it's gonna be considering mama's a giant."

"Zip it, Mikey," Raph growled.

"But dude, I never thought I'd get a change to be an uncle," Mikey told him. "Don't worry, I won't tell the missus how much you used to hate bugs."

"Why do ya' have ta go out of your way ta be disgusting?" Raph asked. "Is it some kind of genetic disorder?"

"I'm not the one who said you were stimulating this worm; Don is," Mikey pointed out.

"Well it ain't moving now, so I guess none of us are stimulating it," Raph said.

"Oh dear, that's not good," Don said quickly, catching up to them.

"What's not good, Donny?" Leo asked.

"We really need for it to think that it's producing eggs," Don said. "As long as it feels us moving around it will start to create the slime tube that will eventually get us out of here."

"I thought you said not to excite it," Mikey said.

"I said don't overly excite it," Don explained. "I don't want to get slammed against the walls."

"How the shell do you excite it without overly exciting it?" Mikey asked. "Donatello, you really need to work on your clarity."

Don ignored him, instead saying, "Bounce while you walk; not too hard, just enough so it feels something sliding through here."

Bending his knees so that he could add a little spring to his step, Raph started forward again, growling, "Man, I feel like an idiot."

When Mikey opened his mouth to say something, Don rapped him on the back of his head.

"Ow! What did you do that for?" Mikey asked.

"Do not aggravate the large turtle inside the small tunnel, Michelangelo," Don said.

"How far do you think this goes?" Leo asked from the back of the group.

"Based on what I can remember of the diagram I saw, we should be near the egg chamber. This ventricle will more than likely dead end there," Don answered.

While they were talking, the worm gave forth a continuous rumbling sound, and the sensation of movement had the brother's working to maintain their balance.

Suddenly, Raph called out, "Bingo!"

The ventricle they were in opened out into a chamber large enough to hold a dozen mutant turtles. Raph flashed his light around, showing them smooth gray walls and a pristine floor that contained six oval shaped objects.

Stepping into the chamber, Don used his own flashlight to examine one of the objects, which was off-white in color and the size of a toaster oven.

"Careful, Donny," Leo admonished his brother.

"It's okay, Leo," Don said as he bent over to shine his light through the semi-translucent covering. "These are its eggs. We're in the egg chamber."

A slight sucking sound drew their attention and the brothers watched as a tube just above the ventricle they'd been in pushed out another egg.

"Hey, genius," Raph called, "when exactly is this thing gonna decide to eject us?"

Don played his light around the chamber before answering. "I think when it senses the chamber is full."

"Donny," Mikey said as though speaking to a five year old. "This place isn't half full. That could take a really long time."

"Can we trick it into thinking the chamber is full?" Leo asked. "Like when we were stimulating it to move?"

"Yeah, maybe we can pound on the walls or something," Raph said.

Don's eyes brightened. "Don't pound; rub! Move around and push at the walls from different heights so it feels like the eggs are pressing against the sides."

Mikey bounded over to one of the walls and began pushing at it with his knuckles, moving them up and down as he slowly walked along.

"That's right, feel the babies. Lots and lots of babies; you need to let us out now," Mikey crooned.

Raph stared at him from his own spot against one of the walls. "What is _wrong_ with you?"

"Focus guys," Leo called out. He was working in a rhythmic pattern, alternating between rubbing and pushing at the rubbery wall.

As they moved around the chamber thumping and pressing against the worm's insides, Don said, "We need a plan for escaping the slime tube once it slides free of the worm."

"What plan?" Raph asked. "We'll walk out of it."

"You don't understand. The tube becomes fully enclosed and filled with albuminous fluid after it leaves the worm's body," Don said.

Mikey stopped beating on the wall so he could turn and glare at his brother. "Oh, _now_ you tell us. Just how long are we gonna be holding our breath?"

"I'm not actually sure," Don admitted, shaking his head. "It could be as long as five minutes. We'll have to go by feel and judge when it's time to get out since I have no idea if we'll be able to see anything."

"I'll slice our way out," Leo said. "Once it seems as if the tube is no longer rubbing against dirt walls, I'll cut us loose. Even if we can't see anything, we should be able to hear if something is still scraping against the tube."

A gurgling sound was followed by a tremor underfoot and Raph said, "I think we're about ta find out if you're right. Something's happening."

Another hard tremor shook the floor and jounced the four brothers off their feet. Rather than trying to stand again, all of them stayed down, waiting to see what would happen next.

Shaking and rolling slightly, the ground began to rise, seemingly inflating beneath them. Staring up at the ceiling that was coming ever closer, Mikey shouted, "Donny?"

"It'll open, hang on!" Don called out, secretly hoping he was right.

Closer and closer the ceiling came as the ground lifted them along with the eggs towards it. As they watched, the color overhead changed from gray to something more translucent, and they could see dirt and rock from the outer tunnel flashing by.

"Flatten yourselves!" Leo yelled as they began to feel the ceiling pressing down on them.

Lying as flat as they could, the brothers strained against the pressure against their chests.

"It's not . . . opening!" Raph shouted.

"Leo, cut it!" Mikey groaned, his head turned to the side so he could breathe.

Leo pushed back against the spongy floor as he tried to reach his swords. Before he could get his hand up, the ceiling lightened in color once more.

"Hold on!" Don exclaimed.

All at once the weight lifted from them and the ceiling of worm skin disappeared. The tunnel walls were still too close for comfort and the brothers remained prone, waiting for what might happen next.

A sudden wetness called their attention to the ground they were lying on. A pool of fluid had risen past their carapaces and was still moving upwards.

"Breathe for as long as you can," Leo instructed. "Take a long, deep breath at the last possible moment and be prepared to maintain it for at least five or six minutes."

Above them the tunnel seemed to widen and the worm slowed its pace; now barely moving. As the Turtles watched, a light brown object began to slide over the opening above them.

"That's the tube," Don said. "Once it's completely in place, the fluid will rise up to fill it. Relax and let it lift you."

"Easy for you to say," Mikey mumbled.

Within another minute the opening was covered by something that looked like a giant bubble. As soon as it closed, the fluid around them began to rise faster; the substance slightly thicker than water but extremely buoyant.

The four floated up into the tube along with the eggs, remaining on their backs so they could continue breathing. When the fluid was nearly to the top of the tube, each of the brothers took a deep breath and drifted downwards.

Looking around, they found that the fluid had darkened to almost the same brownish color as the worm's exterior body. It was difficult for them to see each other and they tried to remain in close proximity as they waited for the worm to relinquish the tube.

They felt the tube bump against something a few times and assumed it was the tunnel walls. None of them moved; they couldn't afford to use any of the precious oxygen in their lungs as they waited to be set free.

Minutes ticked by with nothing happening except for an increased rasping sound inside the tube and additional bouncing that seemed to increase. After what seemed an eternity the center of the tube altered its shape perceptibly and there was a change to the color of the fluid as it grew a bit lighter.

Then the tube felt like it was slammed against something. Jarred by the blow, the Turtles were pushed out of position and lost sight of each other. Don thought he heard a grunt from nearby, but couldn't see any of his brothers.

In another second, the tube stopped moving and Don knew that it was no longer a part of the worm's body.

Waiting, Don expected that Leo would immediately start cutting the walls. After a half minute passed, the purple banded Turtle realized that something was wrong.

Feeling as though his lungs would burst, Don frantically swam towards the last place he had seen Leo. His hands were out; arms swinging in a wide arc as he tried to locate his brother by touch, knowing that they only had seconds left before the lack of oxygen would make them all pass out.

A slight motion caught his eye suddenly and looking down, he saw Leo's mask tails floating above his motionless form as it lay near the bottom of the tube. Leo's eyes were closed and he was unconscious, mouth open as fluid began to fill his lungs.

TBC…


	6. part 5 Final

Viand  
part 5 Final

Quickly grabbing a katana from the sheath on Leo's back, Don turned to where he thought the wall was, swimming with the point of the blade pointed outwards. He soon felt something rubbery touch the tip of the sword and thrust the sharp metal into it as hard as he could.

Slicing at the walls as fast as possible, Don ripped apart the slime tube they were in. The fluid began spilling out and soon he found himself standing on the tunnel floor with pieces of the tube draped over him.

"What the shell happened?" Raph yelled from nearby, coughing and shoving aside sections of the tube.

"Leo!" Mikey yelled as he crawled towards them on his hands and knees.

Don yanked the rest of the tube out of the way as he rushed back to his injured brother. Mikey reached him first and turned Leo onto his side, then proceeded to lightly pound on his carapace.

"He got knocked out," Don said, falling to his knees in front of Leo. "That last hard bounce must have thrown him against something."

"Is he all right?" Raph asked, kneeling next to Mikey.

Leo started coughing violently just then, his body jerking with spasms as he ejected the fluids from his lungs. Don placed a hand beneath Leo's head so he wouldn't hit it against the floor and then they waited as their older brother spit out the last of the liquid and took a deep breath.

"Are we out?" Leo asked even before opening his eyes.

"Yeah, we are," Raph answered. "Ya' tried giving us one last scare, but we ain't in that damn worm anymore."

Leo blinked up at Don and then rolled into a sitting position. Glancing at the katana in Don's hand, Leo grinned and said, "Aren't you glad I made you work on your grip?"

"Yeah bro'," Don said, chuckling as he reached down to help Leo stand and then returned the blade to him.

Sliding his weapon into place, Leo looked around them. The eggs that had been inside the tube with them were scattered around, but there were also what appeared to be hundreds more inside a large U-shaped cavern.

"Where the shell are we?" Mikey asked in a hushed tone.

Don picked his way gingerly amongst the eggs, studying them as he walked. "This is why the worm started moving when we climbed into the ovaries; it was trying to get to this birthing tunnel."

"I take it that normal earthworms don't do that," Leo said.

Shaking his head, Don said, "No, they don't. This is bizarre; none of these eggs has hatched."

"Is that somehow more bizarre than a giant earthworm tunneling underneath New York City?" Raph asked.

"It could certainly mean that's the _only_ earthworm tunneling underneath New York City," Don said. "There must be just that one because the eggs haven't been fertilized."

"But didn't you say they're hermaphrodites?" Leo asked.

Don glanced at him. "Sure, but that only means that they produce both eggs and sperm. They have to have the sperm from another earthworm to fertilize their eggs. I wish I knew why it feels the need to come back here each time it needs to lay."

"Hey, maybe we'll find some answers in here," Mikey called to them.

Looking around, they saw the youngest standing in front of a steel door that had been built into the dirt wall. Stepping over and around eggs, the other three brothers quickly joined him.

"This has got to be Shredder's handiwork," Raph snarled.

Leo tried the door handle but found that it was locked. "Do you have your lock picking kit on you?" he asked Don.

"I've got mine," Raph said, extracting a sai from his belt and jamming it into the lock before anyone could say anything.

With a deft twist of his wrist, Raph succeeded in unlocking the door. Flinging it open, they found themselves staring into a small room, one wall covered in wire racks that were holding worm eggs. On the other wall was a large dumb-waiter lift, the door open and insides empty.

Directly in front of them was a set of stairs and wordlessly, they started up.

The stairs took them into a large laboratory; an almost exact duplicate of the one they had found when they first met Quarry. This one also showed signs of having been destroyed during some catastrophic event.

"Suspicions verified," Mikey said in a hushed tone.

"Do you think you can pull up a video log like the one we found at the last lab?" Leo asked Don.

"I'll try," Don said, walking over to a computer console. "This stuff is pretty smashed up."

The cracked monitor blinked to life, a low hiss coming from speakers attached to it but the only thing that showed up was gray fuzz. Manipulating the keyboard, Don scrolled quickly through the recordings until something flashed on the screen.

_". . . embedded in the reproductive organs . . . can control its movements . . . once we find use for the eggs . . . others are becoming a problem . . . ."_

The recording blanked out again. "What others?" Raph asked. "More worms?"

"I don't know," Don said, frowning as he worked the controls. Another log entry flared to life.

_ "They've broken into the lab! There's no time to take anything, we have to get out!"_

The recording showed a hulking form in the background and scientists in lab coats running towards an open elevator. When the form came closer, the scientist who was making the recording screamed and ran just as a giant fist slammed down on a nearby table. Then the recording went blank again.

"That looked like Stonebiter," Mikey said.

"I think it probably was," Don said, giving up on trying to get anything else from the video logs. "I think that those were the 'others' the scientist mentioned in the earlier log entry. Shredder must have found this experiment to be less troublesome and more fruitful than the one using mutated humans. The only problem was that Quarry and the rest of the group didn't want any of Shredders minions messing around down here."

"What did he mean by 'use for the eggs'?" Leo asked.

Don shrugged, looking around the room. His eyes landed on an overturned filing cabinet and he darted over to it, pushing it upright and rummaging around in the drawers.

While the genius was looking through the papers he'd found, Mikey was searching for the elevator he'd seen the scientists getting into. Shoving aside a couple of tables, Mikey uncovered the doors.

"Found the elevator!" Mikey sang out. "Now maybe we can get out of here."

Raph and Leo ran over to join him as Mikey stabbed at the control button, but nothing happened.

"Oh shell, no power," Mikey moaned.

"I can probably rig something up to give it enough juice to lift us out of here," Don said absentmindedly as he scanned some notes. "Either that or we can climb up the shaft."

"Let's get these doors open," Raph said, jamming the tip of his sai between the two doors.

Leo stepped up next to him and pushed his katana in also. Pulling back, they made a large enough gap to get their fingers into and then Mikey joined them in shoving the doors apart.

As Mikey was wedging a piece of metal under one of the panels to keep it from sliding shut again, Don came running up to them, waving a piece of paper in the air.

"This is why the worm came back here," he said excitedly. "They implanted a receiver inside its ovaries along with a sensing device. Whenever there were eggs being produced, the sensor sent a message to a transmitter here at the lab, which then automatically sent a homing signal to the worm. It has to come here to lay eggs."

"Why the fuck would they do that?" Raph asked.

"My guess is so that they could play with the eggs," Don said. "Maybe try and inseminate them and create better worms. You saw the eggs they collected downstairs. I think they got interrupted before they could finish the next phase of their operation."

"So what's to prevent somebody in Shredder's organization from coming back here?" Mikey asked. "Karai is crazy enough to do it; only she'd try to get the things to hunt for us."

"We have to destroy the eggs, the lab, and the transmitter," Don said.

"If there are any records in Shredder's files, they can always build another transmitter," Leo pointed out.

Don scratched his chin as he thought. "We could kill the worm, although I'm loath to do that."

"I'm not," Raph said flatly. "It's an abomination."

"Some people would say that about us too dude," Mikey said softly.

"It's a damn bug, Mikey," Raph argued hotly. "It shouldn't even exist."

"If it wasn't for some alien scientists, we wouldn't exist either," Mikey countered.

"The worm is just trying to survive," Don said. "It has no ill intent. Eating us was an accident."

"It's dangerous," Raph snapped. "What if it goes higher and sucks down a couple of sewer workers? I'll feel like shit if someone dies cause we were too soft hearted ta kill it."

"If we were to decide to kill it, how would we do it?" Leo asked, looking directly at Don.

The pained expression on Don's face was obvious, but he answered his brother. "We could try to blow it up from the inside, but that would require finding something explosive down here and getting the worm to swallow it. A better option would be to fire up the generators and electrocute it."

"How do we do that?" Raph asked. "Ya' gonna walk up to it and hope it stays still while ya' jam a couple of wires in its mouth?"

"No, I'd use the wire racks downstairs to line the tunnel floor and walls and hook electricity up to them. Then when the worm slid onto the racks, I'd turn up the juice," Don said.

"If we chose to do that, would you use the transmitter to call it back here?" Leo asked.

"What the fuck is this 'if' shit?" Raph barked. "The damn thing needs ta die."

"You're starting to sound like Bishop bro'," Mikey said.

Raph spun on him, snarling. "What did ya' say?"

"Enough!" Leo snapped. "This isn't getting us anywhere. I said 'if' because I want an option that doesn't involve arbitrarily killing something. I don't want us to turn reactionary, Raph. Whenever we have the time to think things through we should do just that."

"Ya' do remember what just happened ta us, don't ya'?" Raph asked, calming somewhat as he turned back to Leo.

"Yes I do," Leo told him. "We were lucky and I fully realize that if the worm swallows someone else, they probably won't be. I'm just thinking that thing can't possibly have a very long life expectancy and it would be better to let it die a natural death."

"Ya' don't know what Shredder did ta it. It could live forever as far as ya' know," Raph argued.

"Not from anything I see in these notes," Don said quietly. "They only used some kind of a growth serum to mutate it to its large size, nothing was done about longevity. It will probably only live six years total and from the dates on these notes, it's already halfway there."

"Three years is still a long damn time for that monster ta be roaming around down here," Raph said darkly.

"Then why don't we make it roam around somewhere else?" Mikey suggested.

His brothers looked at him and Don asked, "What did you have in mind?"

"Couldn't we make it go deeper? If it met up with something it didn't like and couldn't go up or to the sides, it would naturally go down to get away," Mikey said.

"You know, he has a point," Don said thoughtfully. "We could still use the wire to shock it, but at a lower setting so it tunnels down to get away from the pain."

"And what's ta keep it from coming back up in a couple of days?" Raph asked. "It came up above its comfort zone long enough ta set off our sensors."

"Could you rig the transmitter to send a signal that's painful?" Leo asked. "Then whenever it tried to rise to this level the pain would drive it back underground."

"Sure, I could do that. But we'd have to find a place to put the transmitter so that the Foot couldn't get to it. And the power is only going to last for just so long," Don answered.

"Collapse this place," Raph suggested, going with the flow of the idea finally. "Put the transmitter inside one of the tunnels and then destroy the rest of this operation, eggs and all."

"We can burn the eggs and all of these notes," Don said, "and finish smashing everything in here. Once we get back to the lair, I can rig up some explosives and we could return here long enough to lower them down the elevator shaft. That should do the trick."

"As far as the worm coming back, everything with a brain eventually remembers where pain comes from," Mikey said. "Avoiding this level will become instinct after a while."

Raph rubbed his forehead; still not convinced by the idea of leaving the worm alive, but realizing his brothers had a different mindset than his own.

"I guess if Master Splinter were with us he'd say something like 'everything should have a chance ta live'," Raph said slowly.

"You have to feel a little sorry for it," Mikey said. "After all, you're leaving the poor thing at the altar."

Growling, Raph said, "Shut up before I give it another chance ta eat ya'."

"Help me gather up wire and wrap it around the tunnel," Don said. "I'm sure none of us wants to stay here any longer than necessary."

"I want to go home and take a long, hot shower," Mikey said. "And then a bath, and then another shower, and . . . ."

"Come on shell for brains," Raph interrupted, grabbing Mikey's mask tails and pulling him along to follow Don.

For the next two hours the Turtles ran back and forth between the birthing tunnel and the lab. They had no way of knowing from which direction the worm would approach as the U shaped curve provided it with two entry points, so the brothers had to wire both sections.

Most of the wire was placed on the walls and ceiling of the tunnel; but in each of the sections they set out a wire grid on the ground, placing it some fifty feet further back in each of the two approaches.

The plan was simple; they would lure the worm back to the birthing tunnel and once it was inside the electrical field, Don would turn the power up high enough to encourage the worm to dig down.

The floor space containing the eggs was free of wire, leaving the worm with a good sized escape route. If it tried to move forward out of that area, it would hit another electrical field.

When everything was set up, Leo, Raph, and Mikey walked back into the lab where Don was just finishing hooking the electrical leads to the generator. He had spent a half hour getting it working again and would have crossed his fingers that it would continue to run if he didn't need all six of his digits.

"I calculated the worm's mass and body weight while I was working on the generator," Don said without looking up. "I have a pretty good idea of how many volts I need to send into the grid in order to hurt it without frying it."

Raph grimaced. "I hope ya' guys are sure about this. It goes against my natural instincts."

Mikey patted the back of his shell and grinned. "We know Raphie; you have a stomp first ask questions later philosophy. But earthworms are the good guys in nature so you can afford to give her a little break."

Raph scowled at him but didn't say anything as Don lifted the transmitter off a table and looked around at his brothers.

"Ready or not," Don said as he activated the device.

"How long before it gets here?" Leo asked.

"That totally depends on how far it's gone since dropping us off," Don said. "You should get downstairs so you can watch for it. Shout up to me when it's in position."

The other three Turtles headed towards the stairs but Leo stopped Mikey at the top. "Stay here and relay messages to Don. It may get loud down there and I don't want to chance him not hearing us."

"You got it boss," Mikey said with a grin as he seated himself comfortably on the top step.

It wasn't until they reached the bottom that Raph said, "I see ya' got something on your mind. Leaving Mikey up there wasn't just 'cause ya' need for him ta relay messages, was it?"

Leo stopped at the doorway that led into the birthing tunnel and glanced at Raph before turning to watch for the worm. "No," he admitted. "If this idea of driving it further underground doesn't work, we're going to have to kill it. We'll have to pull those electrical leads off the wire grid and press them directly against its skin. Are you up for that?"

"Ya' have ta ask?" Raph cocked his head as he looked at his older brother. "Always got a plan B don't ya'?"

Leo produced a rare smile as he said, "I've got a plan C and D too."

Raph didn't get a chance to question him about them because a rumbling roar assailed their hearing and dirt began to drift down from the tunnel walls.

"Tell Don ta get ready!" Raph shouted up to Mikey. "It's coming!"

The ground under their feet started to shake and from deep inside the tunnel to their right they began to see movement.

"It's moving kinda fast," Raph warned.

"We have to let it pass over the floor grid," Leo said, tensely watching the worm's approach.

A blunt brownish-gray mass came into view, moving directly towards the two brothers. Leo and Raph backed to just inside the egg storage room, both bracing themselves against the doorframe.

"Leo," Raph said in a low hiss.

"Now," Leo answered, "Hit the power."

Raph stumbled back towards the stairs, yelling as he moved, "Turn it on! The worms here; turn up the power!"

He could hear Mikey relaying the message and then a loud buzzing sound came from the tunnel. Racing back to where Leo was still standing, a high pitched and extremely loud screeching sound made him clap his hands over his ear slits.

Looking up, Raph saw that Leo was likewise protecting his hearing. Inside the tunnel, the worm was thrashing and squirming as electricity arced off of its enormous body. Dirt rained down from the ceiling and walls, along with larger segments of rock.

"It's gonna destroy the power grid!" Raph shouted at Leo, trying to be heard over the worm's deafening screech.

"More power!" Leo shouted at the top of his lungs.

A second later the buzzing sound of electricity bouncing across wire joined that of the worm's pained cries. The creature rushed forward, barreling over the previously laid eggs and curving with the tunnel as its mouth touched electrified walls.

Something came flying towards them and Raph reached out to yank Leo away from the doorway. The worm's tail slammed into the doorframe where Leo had been standing as it flicked past the pair.

"It's gonna get away!" Raph yelled at his brother.

Leo jumped back to the door with Raph on his heels. As they slid out into the tunnel, the worm suddenly changed direction and began to wiggle back towards them.

"Shit!" Raph yelped as the flailing tail nearly hit him.

Cut off from the door, the brothers danced backwards, avoiding the electrified walls. A few feet behind them, the floor grid pulsated with electrical energy.

"If we don't fry it now, it's gonna fry us!" Raph warned.

"Grab a lead and yank it loose!" Leo called. "Don't let your weapon come in contact with it!"

Just as they turned, the ground seemed to roll under their feet, throwing both of them into the dirt. Raph scrambled back on his elbows and heels, trying to get to the lead wire.

The worm's tail slapped the ceiling and then came down directly at Leo, who rolled out of its way. A plume of dust filled the tunnel, tiny rocks and chunks of dirt hitting the Turtles who fought to regain their footing.

Then the screeching sound suddenly stopped. The ground quivered and shook for another minute as the brothers watched the worm's tail end slowly disappear.

Jumping up, Leo and Raph ran after it. The buzzing of the electrical current was still loud, but the roar that accompanied the worm's movements was fading.

Rounding the curve in the tunnel, the pair skid to a halt. Just in front of them an enormous hole opened into the ground, dust rising up from inside the worm's newest tunnel.

"We did it!" Raph yelled triumphantly, turning to fist bump his brother.

Grinning widely, Leo carefully approached the hole, staying away from the edges. Listening as much as looking, Leo perceived nothing to indicate that the worm was anywhere close.

"Hey!" Mikey yelled from somewhere behind them. "Are you guys alive or did you get eaten again?"

Raph and Leo walked back to where the youngest was standing. "We're alive and the worm is gone," Leo informed him.

"Woohoo!" Mikey shouted, jumping into the air before racing back to the staircase. "Turn it off, Donny! The worm is gone!"

A second later, the buzz and high whine of the electricity was cut off and in another moment, Don was standing amongst the remains of the crushed and battered eggs.

"Did it go further underground?" Don asked.

"It appears so," Leo said. "I can't hear it anymore and considering that things size, if it were anywhere near here we'd know it."

"Good. Give me about ten minutes to rewire this transmitter to make it send a signal the worm will try to avoid. I'm going to put it inside the dumbwaiter; the metal will protect the device when we burn the eggs and blow up the lab," Don said.

Mikey and Raph were already pushing the eggs into a pile in the center of the chamber and Leo joined them. By the time they completed that and transferred the eggs from the lab onto the pile, Don had finished with the transmitter and placed it into the dumb waiter.

Leo set fire to the eggs, using paper and oil from the lab as an accelerant. Once they were sure the conflagration was large enough to fully consume the eggs, the brothers went back up to the lab.

"I'm afraid we destroyed the generator using it to drive the worm underground," Don said. "That means we're going to have to climb the ladder in the elevator shaft to get back home."

"Where we'll immediately grab the explosives you'll need to destroy this lab and come right back here with them," Leo said, listening to Mikey groan. "We can't chance leaving a window of opportunity open for Karai; not even a small one."

"When we get done with that, do I get to pass out for a week?" Mikey asked as he jumped through the elevator escape hatch and began climbing the ladder, watching as his brothers followed suit.

"The first thing we'll do when we finish this is get those burns cleaned properly," Don told his youngest brother. "It shouldn't take long."

"Good, 'cause then I'm gonna sleep. And eat. And sleep while I eat," Mikey said.

"I'm gonna do both while I soak in the tub," Raph said. "How 'bout ya' Leo?"

Leo grinned. "A long hot shower sounds really, really good."

"And an entire bottle of mouthwash, right bro'?" Mikey asked impishly.

"Thanks for reminding me," Leo said as he scrunched up his face. "I can still taste that fluid."

Slowly climbing the ladder, the brothers groaned as their sore muscles protested the effort. Then Mikey said, "You know what? We should have saved one of the eggs. I'm sure Don could figure out a way to produce a worm from it and then Raph would have the namesake he's always dreamt of. It'd make up for the missus running out on him. Can't say I really blame her though; she finally got a good look at his ugly mug."

"Ya' are so dead, Mikey," Raph spat, making a grab at his youngest brother.

Mikey leaped upwards, scaling the ladder with incredible speed as he tried to stay ahead of his fury driven brother. Leo and Don followed them at a more sedate pace.

"Thanks for not frying her," Don said softly.

Leo smiled at his brother. "I guess you knew what I planned to do?"

"Yes," Don answered. "I was really hoping you wouldn't have to. We should all get a chance at life, even if we are different."

Leo's eyes turned up to where his brightly banded brothers yelled and cavorted. With a heartfelt sigh, he said, "I couldn't agree more."

THE END


End file.
